The present invention relates to a disposable diaper for absorption and containment of body discharges.
A disposable diaper is well known in the art, which defines, in a longitudinal direction, front and rear waist regions and a crotch region extending between these waist regions and having a body fluid absorbing zone extending over the crotch region further into the front and rear waist region, a pair of end flaps extending in a transverse direction outside longitudinally opposite ends of the absorbing zone, a pair of side flaps extending in a longitudinal direction outside transversely opposite side edges of the absorbing zone, a pair of tape fasteners respectively attached to the side flaps in the rear waist region so as to extend in the transverse direction and a target tape attached to the outer surface of the front waist region, on which target tape the respective tape fasteners are releasably anchored (See Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 1998-309299, hereinafter referred to as Citation).
The tape fasteners have proximal portions permanently bonded to transversely outer ends of the respective side flaps and distal portions extending outward in the transverse direction from the respective proximal portions. The distal portions of the tape fasteners are provided with hooks a constituting a so-called mechanical fastener. The target tape is of a rectangular shape which is relatively long in the transverse direction and provided on its outer surface with loops constituting the mechanical fastener. A plurality of thread-like waist elastic members extending in the transverse direction are contractibly attached to the end flap in the rear waist region. A plurality of thread-like leg elastic members extending in the longitudinal direction are contractibly attached to the side flaps in the crotch region.
The diaper disposed in the foregoing Citation is put on the wearer by a parent or a care personnel in a sequence as will be described. The parent or care personnel places the hip of the wearer laid on the back on the developed diaper, then folds back the crotch region with the front waist region gripped by the wearer's fingers and places the front waist region on the wearer's belly; stretches the end flaps in the rear waist region in the transverse direction with the end flaps or the side flaps in the rear waist region gripped by the wearer's fingers; folds back the side flaps in the rear waist region with the tape fasteners gripped by the wearer's fingers so that the side flaps in the rear waist region may be laid on the wearer's belly; places the side flaps in the rear waist region upon the outer surfaces of the respective side flaps in the front waist region; and anchors the distal portions of the respective tape fasteners on the outer surface of the target tape to connect the front and rear waist regions with each other while a tightening effect of the end flaps as well as the side flaps around the wearer's waist is adjusted. To anchor the tape fasteners on the target tape, the distal portions of the respective tape fasteners may be pressed against the outer surface of the target tape to bring the hooks in engagement with the loops. Upon connection of the front and rear waist regions with each other, the diaper is formed with a waist-hole and a pair of leg-holes.
To put the diaper disclosed in the foregoing Citation on the wearer's body, the parent or care personnel develops the end flaps in the rear waist region with the end flaps or the side flaps in the rear waist region gripped by the wearer's fingers so as to stretch the waist elastic members in the transverse direction. If, however, the end flaps and/or the side flaps in the rear waist region have not a sufficient frictional force to grip the flaps firmly, it may be impossible for the parent or care personnel to stretch the waist elastic members at a desired ratio. If the waist elastic members of the diaper can not be sufficiently stretched, a contractile force of the waist elastic members can not be utilized to fasten the end flaps in the rear waist region closely around the wearer's waist. Consequently, it is likely that a gap might be left between the end flaps in the rear waist region and the wearer's skin and bodily discharges might leak out from the diaper beyond the end flaps.